CPI (M) Polit Bureau member and MP Sitaram Yechury said on Tuesday that to contest the Lok Sabha elections, the party was open only to a non-BJP, non-Congress formation that accepted the basic assumptions of an alternate economic policy and was steadfast on secularism.

Mr Yechury was talking to reporters before addressing a gathering organised by the Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh units of the party to mark the centennial of the Ghadar movement. He said the CPI(M) will not consider an alliance with the AAP until the latter declared its economic agenda and clarified its stance on secularism.

Commenting on the polls becoming a Narendra Modi versus Rahul Gandhi affair, Mr Yechury said the country needed a change in niti (policy) and not just neta (leader). He said the Congress and the BJP followed identical economic policies and often indulged in â€œmatch fixingâ€ to get anti-people legislations passed in Parliament. As things were shaping up, the so-called third front would actually become the â€œfirstâ€ and decide the next government for the country, he said.

Criticising the BJPâ€™s propaganda and approach, Mr Yechury said the country needed to revisit the Ghadar movement and formulate a development model that ensured inclusive growth. He warned that just one religious or ethnic community would not be able to ensure economic freedom. Constructing an even bigger statue of Sardar Patel would not resolve the basic survival issues of the people, he added.

At the gathering, Mr Yechury said the Ghadar movement with its secular core inspired and impacted all other movements of the freedom struggle. He said Mahatma Gandhiâ€™s Non-Cooperation movement, Shaheed Bhagat Singhâ€™s revolutionary stance and Netaji Subhas Chandra Boseâ€™s efforts were all motivated by the Ghadar movement.